last week, house speaker john boehner said that congress has ways to avert the fiscal crisis, but rewriting the tax code in two or three weeks is not one of them. lawmakers have until midnight on new year's eve to reach an agreement. the first round of meetings begins today. hurricane sandy's power-packed winds swept away sales momentum in the retail sector, especially in the car industry. prior to the storm, retail sales were edging higher. the month of september was revised up 1.3% from 1.1%. but after sandy, overall, retail sales slid .3% in october, the first dip in 3 months. automaker sales plunged 1.5%, the larget drop since august of 2011. car makers blame the storm for sluggish sales and predict a rebound in november. the national automobile dealer'' association is standing by its prediction that as many as a quarter of a million vehicles suffered damage from superstorm sandy. and as our cover story explains, many of them could be resold at auction and wind up on used car lots from coast-to- coast. the national automobile dealer'' association says despite fewer than 40,000 claims fi